elf

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   A supernatural being or spirit associated with illness, mischief, and harmful or…

   A supernatural being or spirit associated with illness, mischief, and harmful or dangerous magical influence; in later Norse sources, sometimes divided into benevolent light elves (inhabiting Álfheimr) and malevolent dark elves.

   • Their Robbin-good-fellowes, Elfes, Fairies, Hobgoblins of our latter age, which idolatrous former daies and the fantasticall world of Greece ycleaped Fawnes, Satyres, Dryades & Hamadryades, did most of their merry prankes in the Night.
2. 2

   A small, magical creature similar to a fairy, often mischievous, playful, or occasionally…

   A small, magical creature similar to a fairy, often mischievous, playful, or occasionally helpful.

   • For there and ſeveral other places / About mill dams and green brae faces, / Both Elrich, Elfs and Brownies ſtayed, / And Green gown’d Farries daunc’d and played; […]
   • IN Days of Old when Arthur fill’d the Throne, / Whoſe Acts and Fame to Foreign Lands were blown; / The King of Elfs and little Fairy Queen / Gamboll’d on Heaths, and danc’d on ev’ry Green.
   • Farefolkis, fairies, elfs, or elves; […]
3. 3

   A member of a race of tall, slender, graceful beings with pointed ears, typically…

   A member of a race of tall, slender, graceful beings with pointed ears, typically immortal or very long-lived and possessing wisdom and magical abilities.

   • Much of fairy lore clusters around the so-called fairy rings, that is, the green circles in old pastures within which the elfs were supposed to dance at night by the light of the moon.
4. ›+ 10 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      Ellipsis of Christmas elf.

      • Since you’ve been out, the news arrives / The Elfs’ Insurance Company’s gone.
   2. 5

      A very diminutive person

      A very diminutive person; a dwarf.

   3. 6

      Bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix).

   4. 7

      To twist into elflocks (of hair)

      To twist into elflocks (of hair); to mat.

      • My face I'll grime with filth, blanket my loins, elf all my hairs in knots, and with presented nakedness outface the winds and persecutions of the sky.
   5. 8

      Acronym of Executable and Linking Format, a common object file format for Unix.

      • In ELF executables, there aren't a whole lot of code caves (such as in the PE format), so you are not likely to be able to shove more than just a meager amount of shellcode into existing code slots […]
   6. 9

      Initialism of extremely low frequency.

   7. 10

      Acronym of English as a lingua franca (“English used by non-native speakers”).

      • The consequences of the massive volume of ELF to English taken as a whole, as the aggregate use of the language, is essentially a descriptive issue: what new features of English are emerging and taking hold?
   8. 11

      Initialism of Earth Liberation Front, a radical environmentalism group.

      • In the late 1990s, the ELF became notorious for setting fire to symbols of ecological destruction, including timber mills, an S.U.V. dealership and a ski resort.
   9. 12

      Initialism of Elvish Linguistic Fellowship, an organization that studies the invented…

      Initialism of Elvish Linguistic Fellowship, an organization that studies the invented languages of J. R. R. Tolkien.

   10. 13

       Initialism of Endangered Language Fund, a non-profit organization.

The neighborhood

• neighborelfin
• neighborelven
• neighborelvan
• neighborelvish
• neighborelfe
• neighborwood elf
• neighborwood-elf
• neighborDWARF
• neighborLW
• neighborMW
• neighborRF
• neighborSW